E/Province is Rupiah's bedroom - Thandiwe

E/Province is Rupiah's bedroom - Thandiwe
By Joseph Mwenda and Christopher Miti in Chipata
Tue 13 Sep. 2011, 13:59 CAT

Eastern Province is President Rupiah Banda's bedroom and voting for the opposition will be like tolerating bana ba muchigololo, says first lady Thandiwe. Addressing hundreds of women from various constituencies at Chipata Teachers' Training College on Sunday, Thandiwe likened opposition MPs to children born outside wedlock whom she said were very difficult to keep.

"Lelo sinizakamba chizungu, nizakamba chitundu chakuno kwasu kuti munvwishishye, ndine wanu kaili a Banda enichosa ku Northern Province ai? (Today I will not speak in English, I will speak in our Eastern Province language so that you understand clearly. I am yours now since Mr Banda brought me here from Northern Province, didn't he?), Thandiwe asked.

"Pamene sininakambe vambili, nifuna mubaone bana bathu kuno kusogolo.
Rupiah Banda angapite elo azapita manje sangasebenze bwino ngati simunamupase ma MP, bana bake bamunyumba, bana bamuchigololo sitibafuna (Before I go any further, I want you to look here in front and see our children. Rupiah Banda can win the elections and he will, but he cannot work well if you do not vote for MMD MPs, his own children not children born outside wedlock"), she said.

Thandiwe said it was very hard to keep children born outside wedlock and as such they hardly received gifts from their mother.

"Mwainvela nkhani iyo? Mzimai mubanja ngati atiletela bana bakunja mzibambo timakondwela? Olo ukagula sweet, pakuti umupase kwanja ikangiwa ai? So tiyeni Rupiah Banda timupase bana bamu bedroom yake pakuti olo akamba naye aziba kuti uyu ni mwana wanga nebala neka (Are you listening? You mothers when a husband brings us a child born outside wedlock, do we become happy? Even when you buy a sweet, your hand fails to stretch and give the child. So let us give Rupiah Banda children from his bedroom such that even when he is talking to them, he feels that they are his own children)," Thandiwe said.

She introduced some of the MMD parliamentary candidates in Chipata who were present at the rally among them Reuben Mtolo Phiri who is challenging former home affairs deputy minister Lameck Mangani for the Chipata Central seat.

"Mwana winangu ali mubedroom ya Rupiah Banda ni Vincent Mwale mumuziba? Winangu mwana wamene achoka ku bedroom ya Rupiah Banda achokela uko ku kasenengwa Victoria" Another child in Rupiah Banda's bedroom is Vincent Mwale (Chipangali candidate, another one coming from Rupiah Banda's bedroom comes from Kasenengwa, her name is Victoria Kalima)," she said.

And Thandiwe urged the people of Eastern Province to ensure that they maintained the presidency in their region.

She warned party members in the area against relaxing in their campaigns in the remaining few days on grounds that President Banda hailed from Eastern Province. Thandiwe, who struggled to read from a prepared speech in vernacular, said President Banda had a heart for Eastern Province and planned to open a university in the region if elected back into office.

She further told the women that President Banda had a vision of eradicating HIV/AIDS from Zambia in future and that he would succeed if he was re-elected together with his MPs.

She said voting for President Banda would be easy because his name would be on top of the list of names on the presidential ballot paper.

Later during her rally, Thandiwe joined singer Miriam Mukape (Mampi) on stage in entertaining the women and other youths who filled up the fancily decorated college assembly hall.

Speaking at the same rally, Chipangali candidate Mwale urged the women not to feel lazy to cast their votes, saying men were unreliable because they would get drunk on September 20.

"55 per cent of registered voters here are women. Mostly on the polling day, men go behind the house to drink beer after which they forget to go and vote," said Mwale.